Worthing (UK Parliament constituency)

Worthing
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	West Sussex
1945–1997
Number of members	One
Replaced by	East Worthing & Shoreham and Worthing West
Created from	Horsham and Worthing

Worthing was a parliamentary constituency in West Sussex, centred on the town of Worthing in West Sussex. It returned one Member of Parliament(MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

History

The constituency was created for the 1945 general election by dividing Horsham and Worthing, and abolished for the 1997 general election. Its territory was then divided between the new constituencies of Worthing West and East Worthing and Shoreham.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1945	Otho Prior-Palmer	Conservative
	1964	Terence Higgins	Conservative
	1997	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Worthing

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terence Higgins	34,198	57.0	-4.7
	Liberal Democrat	Mrs Sue Bucknall	17,665	29.4	+0.7
	Labour	Jim L.W. Deen	6,679	11.1	+1.5
	Green	Mrs P.J. Beever	806	1.3	+1.3
	Liberal	Nicholas J. Goble	679	1.1	-27.6
Majority			16,533	27.5	-5.5
Turnout			60,027	77.4	+4.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.7

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Worthing

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terence Higgins	34,579	61.7
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	Bob Clare	16,072	28.7
	Labour	Jim L.W. Deen	5,387	9.6
Majority			18,501	33.0
Turnout			56,032	72.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Worthing

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terence Higgins	32,807	60.9
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	Bob Clare	17,554	32.6
	Labour	Ashley Minto	3,158	5.7
	National Front	Martin Wingfield	292	0.5
	BNP	D Monks	103	0.2
Majority			15,253	28.3
Turnout			53,914	71.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Worthing

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terence Higgins	33,624	61.22
	Liberal	B Sudbury	13,244	24.11
	Labour	K Underwood	7,163	13.04
	National Front	A Hough	893	1.63
Majority			20,380	37.11
Turnout				73.27
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Worthing

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terence Higgins	30,036	58.19
	Liberal	MHC Foley	12,691	24.59
	Labour	MJW Neves	8,890	17.22
Majority			17,345	33.60
Turnout				71.10
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Worthing

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terence Higgins	33,613	59.41
	Liberal	MHC Foley	14,683	25.95
	Labour	MJW Neves	8,286	14.64
Majority			18,930	33.46
Turnout				78.43
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Worthing

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terence Higgins	33,051	65.61
	Labour	SM Bartlett	8,989	17.84
	Liberal	MJ Rooke	8,336	16.55
Majority			24,062	47.76
Turnout				69.99
	Conservative hold		Swing